Canada Customs and the Raptors' Future

I remember reading a column by Sam Smith a couple years ago where he stated that one reason the Raptors would always have trouble attracting American free-agents was because NBA players hate going through Customs. European players deal with Customs Officers back home all the time - its an accepted part of life. But American players rarely do. Smith said they don't have the patience and many can't imagine having to deal with Canada Customs on a regular basis. It's one thing for the couple games a visiting team plays in Toronto, but quite another to face the process all season long. I was reminded of this when I saw this Tweet from Ed Davis on June 27th.

I remember reading a column by Sam Smith a couple years ago where he stated that one reason the Raptors would always have trouble attracting American free-agents was because NBA players hate going through Customs. European players deal with Customs Officers back home all the time - its an accepted part of life. But American players rarely do. Smith said they don't have the patience and many can't imagine having to deal with Canada Customs on a regular basis. It's one thing for the couple games a visiting team plays in Toronto, but quite another to face the process all season long. I was reminded of this when I saw this Tweet from Ed Davis on June 27th.

Could we have a problem in a couple years?

Though it could be something players do look at before signing here, why would it be any different in the coming years than in the past 16 years?

Winning brings in players no matter where you are. The young guys we have on this team seem to be a loose bunch and I'm sure a lot of them hang out in their down time, not only the YGZ(is that term still used??). If and when they become competitive you'll see some guys wanting to play here with them, and they'll have a lot more media coverage which I'm sure they'll love.

Having Gestapo search your belongings on a semi daily basis is not fun. ( I use the G word only out of kindness.)

What can you do, you just deal with it. If that is the only low part, than it means life is really sweet, because if you use your head you can easily get through this hurdle by packing like you are prepared for the moment. If you know about it, it should not be a big deal.... but yah, its not enjoyable to submit yourself to an individual in uniform. You know that its the system, and there may be no emotion behind those calculated eyes.

It may be an authority thing... a lot of the players in the USA grow up with a different idea of those in uniform. Some may find the situation stressful, others may not. One can also question if customs methods apply equally for people of colour, and if players in a league more likely to contain Islamic names, would be effected differently though computer checks and typical air port red tape.

(There is also the human factor, would a customs agent be interested in what Charles Oakley has on his person? More so than the nerdy computer dude that came off the same plane. Can fame also make you a magnet for these things? And can an officers cultural/sports biases play a role in your impending scrutiny? )

Going through customs usually doesn't take that long. It certainly can't be any worse than TSA checkpoints that Americans must go through all the time right now. I mean they do intrusive pat downs, use those god awful naked body scanners and from what I read are just all around horrible. Earlier in the week they made headlines for making a 95 year old terminal cancer patient, who was in a wheel chair, take her adult diaper off so they could search her more closely. Surprise, surprise, she wasn't a terrorist and had nothing to hide.

Going through customs usually doesn't take that long. It certainly can't be any worse than TSA checkpoints that Americans must go through all the time right now. I mean they do intrusive pat downs, use those god awful naked body scanners and from what I read are just all around horrible. Earlier in the week they made headlines for making a 95 year old terminal cancer patient, who was in a wheel chair, take her adult diaper off so they could search her more closely. Surprise, surprise, she wasn't a terrorist and had nothing to hide.

Just for the record European players do not have to deal with customs at all. You can travel unrestricted across all borders in the EU. No passport, no border control no nada. It rocks.

The only time customs has ever been a Pain is when they sent me to the secondary line right before you leave the arrivals area. I was on my cell trying to arrange pick up and dude didn't appreciate it (it was really busy and there are signs saying not to use mobiles all over the place) so as long as you aren't acting like a jerk it's pretty smooth. Plus the Raps (and all pro teams) fly charter and aren't in line (unless they fly on personal trips) with 300 regular schmucks like the rest of us.